Smoke-consuming furnace and damper-regulator therefor.



No. 729,188. PATENTED MAY 26, 1903. F. A. KIRBY. SMOKE GONSUMING FURNACE AND DAMPER REGULATOR THEREFOR.

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UNITED STATES Patented May 26, 1903. PATENT QFFICEQ FITZ A. KIRBY, OF WYANDOTTE, MICHIGAN.

SMOKE-CONSUMING FURNACE AND DAMPER-REGULATOR THEREFOR;

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent N 0. 729,188, dated May 26, 1903. Application filed September 13, 1902. $erial No. 123,276. (No modeli) T at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FITZ A. KIRBY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wyandotte, county of WVayne, State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Smoke Consuming Furnaces and Damper-Regulators Therefor,of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention has for its object certain new and useful improvements in a smoke-consuming furnace and damper-regulator therefor; and it consists of the construction, combination, and arrangement of devices hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view in perspective showing parts broken away. 'Fig. 2 is a detail view of the water-column in vertical section and in elevation. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section. Fig. 4. is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 4 4, Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the damper in vertical section.

The purpose of my invention is to provide means for eifecting perfect combustion in a furnace which shall be simple and inexpensive in application and which may readily be adjusted or applied to any furnace, at the same time efiecting a great saving of fuel.

I carry out my invention as follows:

In the drawings, a is a boiler-furnace, b being a combustion-chamber; c, the grate; d, the ash-pit, and e the customary draft-doors into the ash-pit. At the rear of the grate is a bridge-wall f, formed with fines g, preferably arched thereover, as indicated at h. The bridge-wall is cut away over the arches, forming a chamber 7 the rear of the bridgewall extending upward into'contact with the boiler, as indicated at j. By recessing the upper portion of the bridge-wall the heat from the combustion-chamber is permitted to be concentrated in the chamber 1', underneath the boiler, preventing any undue cooling of the boiler. At the same time the extension of the rear portion of the bridge-wall upward into contact with the boiler prevents the passage of the products of combustion through the chamber 2', the upper portion of the bridge-wall obstructing the passage of the products of combustion and deflecting nlating devices consisting, essentially, of one or more dampers 76. The dampers consist of drop-doors jointedly supported at their upper edges, as indicated at Z. I prefer to lo cate the dampers over the customary firedoors, (indicated at 'm,) which doors m, however, I perforate, as indicated in the accompanying drawings, and over which and about which I place a frame n, said frame preferably having an inclined face for the drop: door or damper to rest upon, the damper dropping down in closed position over the customary door m. Obviously a proper manipulation of the damper will assist perfect combustion within the combustion-chamber. The damper is actuated by a water-column p, supplied with water from any suitable source of supply, as from a water-pipe q, provided with a controlling-valve r. The water-coluxnn is provided with a piston s, having a piston-rod 25, having an arm to, with which are connected two pulley-blocks '0 0, additional pulley-blocks w to being located at the base of the column, corresponding-sets of pulley-blocks being connected by chains or cables 00 00, led over the pulley-blocks in a suitable manner and thence into proximity to the dampers, the cables or chains being led over pulleys y y to a connecting-bar 2 and .thence over pulleys o 0.

It will be seen that the arm of the pistonrod is held up by the water supplied to the column. The dampers are closed by wasting the Water-supply Within the column through a petcock (indicated by the numeral 1) in a Waste-pipe 2. The wasting of the water from the column permits the arm or cross-head u to descend, which in turn lowers the dampers. The provision of double pulley-blocks o 'u and w to at the top and bottom of the column gives a proper arrangement of the corresponding chains or cables-a travel of four to one for the ends of the chains or cables taking hold of the dampers-whereby one falling of the water-column may last for a considerable period, the manipulation of the dampers depending, of course, upon the size of the column. Thus I may readily provide in a watercolumn where the piston has a five-foot stroke being to have the door slowly closing con-' tinuously, the door reaching a closed position, preferably, a little before it is time to fire up again. By providing means for automatically closing the dampers thedamper-regulator becomes a great fuel-saver. Thus the construction of the bridge-wall at the rear of the combustion-chamber retards the draft and the passage of the products of combustion, holddraft-doors e or analogous devices.

before the furnace, as indicated at 3.

ing the unconsumed gases, carbon, &c., for a longer period in the combustion-chamber to be commingled with the air supplied through the dampers. At the same time the natural draft is employed, as in ordinary furnaces, under and through the grates or through the Obviously any desired number of chains or cables may be connected with the barz. When the chains are disengaged from the dampers, their adjacent extremities may be coiled up Thus in a dam per-regulator of this description one water-column may serve for any desired number of dampers.

The operation of my invention will now be understood, and it will be readily seen that there is nothing in the construction to get out of order.

By making the closing of the dampers automatic I am not dependent upon the attention of a fireman to prevent undue waste of fuel.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a furnace the combination of a damper, a water-column, means to control the Waste of the water from said column, a piston supported by the Water in said column, pulley-blocks supported upon said piston, pul ley-blocks at the base of said column, and means connected with said damper and said pulley-blocks to control the closing of the damper.

2. In a furnace the combination of a damper, a water-column, means to control the waste of water from said column, a piston supported by the water in said column provided with a cross-arm, pulley-blocks supported toward both extremities of said cross-arm, corresponding pulley-blocks at the base of the column, and chains or cables rove over'said blocks and connected with said damper to control the closing of the damper.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FITZ A. KIRBY.

Witnesses:

N. S. WRIGHT, ADELAINE GORDON. 

